Landslide
by Kris Morene
Summary: Sequel to "Leather and Lace".  Gibbs learns the results of speaking before thinking.  Will Abby forgive him?  Should she?
1. Chapter 1

**Here's the first chapter of the sequel... more of a prologue, really. Next part up shortly! Please let me know what you think! -KM-**

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Gibbs awoke on Saturday morning on the floor of his basement with the headache from hell. The empty bottle of bourbon next to him probably provided the explanation for that. He sat up slowly, memories from the previous evening flooding back. Shit. He was fairly certain he'd made the biggest mistake of his life.

He needed to talk to her. However, calling her at- He glanced at his watch... 6:23 in the morning was a certain way to ensure she would never forgive him. Abby was many things. A morning person was not one of them.

He made his way upstairs, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. Stopping for a brief visit to the head, he then chugged the water and fell into bed, hoping the jackhammer in his skull would quiet itself to woodpecker level by the time he woke.

Later, when the sun had been streaming through the window for several hours, he rolled out of bed and reached for his phone. He dialed her number, his heart in his throat.

"Hello?"

"Abs?"

*click*

Shit. She'd hung up. He knew how to deal with an Abby who wouldn't shut up. He had no idea what to do with an Abby who wouldn't talk.

He stared at the dead phone in his hand for a moment, went downstairs for coffee, and retreated to the basement.

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**Is she being too harsh? Or is he getting what he deserves? I'd love to hear your opinions! -KM-**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's Chapter 2! Thanks so much for your reviews, alerts, and favorites! They totally make my day! I love hearing about what you liked (and didn't like) about the story. So, please let me know how you feel! -KM-**

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Hoping the weekend had calmed things down a bit, he entered her lab on Monday morning with a Caf-Pow peace offering and saw her seated at her desk, back to him. "Abs-"

She didn't turn to look at him, just held up her hand and pointed to the door. Though she didn't say a word, he got that message loud and clear. He was not welcome. Respecting her wishes, he set the Caf-Pow down inside the door and left.

For the rest of the week, he sent the team down to get information from her, always with a Caf-Pow, and always on his dime, of course. He got in early and stayed late, hoping to catch her on her way in or out, that she'd talk to him, or send him some signal that it was okay for him to talk to her, but she walked by his desk as though he wasn't there. Every night was spent in his basement with a bottle, mindlessly turning more of his boat into sawdust. He'd messed things up with women before, but never like this, never when it mattered this much, and he had no clue what to do about it.

He felt like he was walking on daggers, snapping at everyone and sending in Tony and Ziva when something was needed from Abby. He knew his team knew something was wrong. They were good investigators, and he wasn't exactly being subtle. He imagined Abby wasn't either. The floor of his basement was covered in far more sawdust than usual.

On Thursday, they had evidence but no suspect. "McGee! Go see if Abby has those fingerprint results yet." He held out the Caf-Pow for the agent to bring to Abby.

"No, boss."

Gibbs froze. "What did you just say, McGee?"

"I said no, boss." McGee looked at him evenly. "If you need something from Abby, go ask her."

Seeing red, Gibbs took a deep breath. He would deal with McGee in a moment. "DiNozzo!"

"No, boss." Tony stood at his desk and folded his arms. "We're done being your runners. Ask her yourself."

Ziva leaned against the rail of the staircase, looking at him, "Do not look at me. This has gone on long enough. You will have to speak with her eventually. It may as well be today."

Looking around the room, Gibbs growled "Is this some kind of conspiracy?" The team nodded. Figured. If anything would get them to stop bickering and present a united front, it would be Abby. Glaring at the mutiny, eyes going from one team member to the next with no effect, he finally looked down and muttered "She doesn't want to see me. Kicked me out of the lab."

McGee broke first. "Sorry, Boss. We didn't know."

Ziva picked up the Caf-Pow. "I will go."

Seeing McGee and DiNozzo staring, he snapped "Don't you two have work to do?"

"Yes, Boss." They chorused, immediately looking busy. He stared at his computer, suddenly wondering if sending Ziva, a trained Mossad interrogator, down to see Abby had been a good idea.

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**Sorry these are shorter than usual. Just the logical place to put a chapter break. The next one is longer, I promise! -KM-**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's Chapter 3! I loved hearing your feedback from Chapter 2, and I hope you enjoy this! -KM-**

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The elevator dinged sometime later, and Ziva stood in the car, arms folded, looking as pissed as he'd ever seen her. She motioned for him to join her. Shit. Apparently Abby had filled her in on at least some of the situation, and Ziva was almost as protective of Abby as he was. Saw her as some kind of kid sister. And if someone had done to Abby what he'd done to Abby... He was so dead. He walked to the elevator. May as well get it over with. Wasn't like he didn't deserve it, and probably worse to let her kill him in his sleep. At least this way he'd see it coming.

He entered the elevator and she hit the emergency stop a second after the doors closed. In the next breath he found himself slammed up against the wall, stars floating in front of his eyes. As his vision cleared, he saw Ziva two inches from his face, her voice low as she said "While Abby did not give me details, she told me enough. I wish to be clear. The only reason you are not dead is that Abby wishes you to continue to breathe. Therefore, you will remove your head from your anus and fix it. I do not care what you have to do. Fix. It. Am I understood?"

He nodded. She released him and sent the elevator back to the bullpen as he drew in a few deep breaths of oxygen. Leaving the elevator first, she looked back at him, withdrawing a paperclip from her pocket. "Remember, Gibbs. Eighteen ways." The paperclip fell to the ground as she returned to her desk, turning to her computer as if nothing had happened.

He let the elevator doors close, leaning against the wall. He wondered how many people had gotten that close to Ziva when she was that mad and lived to tell the story. He'd guess not many. He shook his head, starting to laugh. Abby wanted him still breathing. That was a start. Now where to go from there... Autopsy.

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He wandered into Autopsy, found Ducky. He needed some help if he was going to do this right, and he certainly wasn't asking McGee or DiNozzo. Before losing his nerve, he blurted out his question. "So, Duck... what do you do when a woman's so upset she won't talk to you?"

Ducky put down his scalpel and turned to face him. "Honestly, Jethro. You haven't figured this out for yourself by now?"

Gibbs folded his arms and growled "Three ex-wives, Duck."

"Well, there is that. Apparently some advice may be in order. I take it we are referring to Abigail?" Gibbs nodded and Ducky motioned for him to sit. "It would depend on what exactly you've done to upset the young lady."

Uh oh. He wasn't going there. Ziva was already wanting to kill him. As he wasn't about to add Ducky to the list, he summarized. "I said something stupid."

"I would imagine that the best course of action would depend entirely on the nature of what kind of 'upset'. Women do have quite the range, don't they. If she happens to be angry-upset, as in would happily have your testicles for breakfast, I would give up hope until she approaches you. Hell hath no fury, as they say."

Abby wasn't that mad, was she? He didn't think so. She'd have let Ziva kill him.

Ducky went on. "Then, there is hurt-upset."

Gibbs nodded. "She doesn't want me dead, so probably that."

"Depending on the woman, and depending on what exactly you did, I would advise that a safe course of action would be starting with flowers and an apology, and, assuming she forgives you, proving to her that you'll do everything in your power to avoid a repeat of whatever it was that got you in the proverbial doghouse to begin with."

"I can do the flowers thing. Never seemed to work before, though."

Ducky shook his head. "Any man can buy a handful of weeds, Jethro."

"Damn it, Duck. I'm not good at words. What's she want me to do?"

Ducky shrugged. "Ask her. If she'll speak to you after you apologize, that is." He turned back to his latest corpse. "Now that reminds me of a lovely woman I met in Paris. Madeline... oh, she drove me to distraction, she did..."

Ducky droned on as Gibbs slipped out the door. Flowers he could handle. As for apologies, he would so break Rule Six here. He'd screwed up. Not repeating the same mistake? He knew he wouldn't. He'd been miserable this last week. From the brief moments he'd seen her, she'd been less than happy herself. He sure as hell wasn't going to do anything that stupid again. However, he had no clue how to convince her of that.

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When Abby got to her desk on Friday morning, there was the usual paperwork and Caf-Pow waiting for her. And on top of the file was a perfect black rose, a small envelope hanging from the stem, her name scrawled on the front. Recognizing the writing, her mind warring between tossing it in the trash or putting the bloom in a vase, she opened the card.

"Abs-

I fucked up. Bad.

Sorry. Forgive me?"

It wasn't signed. It didn't need to be. She'd know that handwriting anywhere and here was only one person who had fucked up that badly, and if he was breaking Rule Six, he was well aware how badly. The rose went in a vase, but she wasn't quite ready to talk to him yet. The NCIS Christmas party was that evening, and Vance had made it clear that it was mandatory. That would be soon enough.

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**So, what does Abby have to say to him? What does he need to say to her? I'd love to hear what you think! -KM-**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the great feedback on the last chapter! I appreciate all the comments from every perspective, and I hope you enjoy the update! -KM-**

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Gibbs, ever punctual, was one of the first at the party, figuring if he arrived early, he could put in an appearance and leave early. He was at the bar chatting absently with DiNozzo when Ziva and Abby entered. DiNozzo whistled under his breath. "Damn, Boss. I think they're trying to kill us."

Gibbs took in the sight before him. "DiNozzo, I think they are." He chuckled as DiNozzo relaxed, having braced himself for a head-smack. He wouldn't deny that Ziva looked beautiful in her long green gown, but Abby... Abby was breathtaking. Her hair was twisted up into some complicated style that he had no doubt she'd had help with, and her velvet v-neck dress hit her in all the right places, resting just above her knee. And the shoes. Damn. She was wearing those shoes. Maybe she did want him dead. She was doing a damn good job of trying to give him a heart attack with the same black patent leather shoes tied with ribbons that she'd worn that night. The night that he couldn't get out of his mind, that he wasn't sure he ever wanted to get out of his mind.

She turned to say something to Ziva, and his glass fell out of his hand, hitting the bar with a thud. She did want him dead. The back of her dress was barely there, coming to a point at the small of her back, displaying the stunning cross tattoo. At the sound of the falling glass, Tony looked at him in surprise. "Boss?"

"Nevermind, DiNozzo." He turned back to the bar and ordered another bourbon. At least the glass had been empty before he'd dropped it.

"Boss?" He glanced back at DiNozzo. "Is that mistletoe in Abby's hair?"

Oh, yeah. She was definitely trying to kill him.

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He remained at the bar for the evening, joined a bit later by Vance and McGee, watching as Abby flitted around the room, receiving many kisses on the cheek as people noticed her mistletoe. She certainly was everyone's sweetheart. Conversation went on around him, but he had no idea what was being said. Finally, she drifted his way. "Hi, McGee, Tony, Director!" Her eyes landed on him. "Gibbs." Her voice wasn't cold, but there was a definite drop in enthusiasm.

"Abs." He acknowledged, not sure what to do. He'd seen the flower on her desk when she was at lunch. He'd checked to make sure she hadn't thrown it out, wanting to have some idea of her reaction. He still had no idea what to say to her, especially not with everyone standing around.

Tony jumped in. "Hey, Abby, is that mistletoe?"

"Yep! Ziva did it!" She spun around to show it off. "Isn't it pretty?"

"I guess you're technically under it..." Tony pecked her on the cheek quickly.

Gibbs turned away, muttered something about getting some air and retreated to the balcony with his bourbon. He leaned on the railing of the sheltered patio, watching snow begin to drift from the sky. He was only slightly surprised when he felt Abby next to him. "You know, the mistletoe wasn't for Tony."

He shrugged. "Didn't want to assume." He kept looking out at the snow.

"Thank you for the rose."

"Thanks for telling Ziva not to kill me."

"I just reminded her that if I wanted you dead, I can kill without leaving any forensic evidence."

Hearing the smile in her voice, he glanced over at her. "I'll keep that in mind."

"She feels bad, though, for losing her temper."

"Not happy about it, but can't fault her for standing up for a friend. You look-" He hesitated to use the word 'beautiful', knowing it was what he'd called her that night. "stunning tonight." He finished.

"Thank you."

He reached out for her, subconsciously ready to run his hand down her cheek, signing _my girl_ when he realized he wasn't sure he had the right to do that and let his hand drop to her shoulder. Her skin was like ice, and he realized that she was standing out here talking to him in a snowstorm, and while the dress was almost as stunning as the woman in it, it was sleeveless and backless. "You also look cold." He slipped out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Thanks." She paused, looking out at the snow, and he got the feeling she was going to ask something he didn't want to answer. "Gibbs- I need to know why-"

Hoping to put that off just a while longer, he asked "Maybe we should save that talk for later?" indicating all their coworkers inside.

"We have a lot to talk about later. I just need to know why. We had such a wonderful night, I know neither of us were thinking it was a one-time thing..." She glanced up, looking for confirmation that she hadn't read him completely wrong, and he gave it to her with a short nod. "But then after..." She let her voice trail off. They both knew what had happened.

He couldn't bring himself to look at her, so he turned his eyes back to the storm. "Not sure what to say." She just waited, letting the silence grow heavy. He owed her this answer, and they both knew it. "Abs, you're...important. And when I get-" He hunted through his mind for the right words. "Involved with somebody, I mess up. And they leave. Don't want you to leave."

Abby gave him an annoyed look. "So you figured you'd mess up right from the start?"

He shrugged. "Could've thought that through better."

Abby's hand colliding with the back of his head said it all.

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At the bar, the team was watching them with interest. Tony winced. "Ouch! Did Abby just head-smack the boss?"

Ziva nodded. "It would appear so. Though, as they are speaking, it seems as though he is forgiven, at least somewhat."

They looked on as the two walked back inside arm in arm, Abby draped his jacket over a chair, and they moved to the dance floor. Tony offered his hand to Ziva, who shook her head, then shrugged. "Why not. It is, as you say, Christmas." Tony kept a respectable distance between them, but noted that the same could not be said for Gibbs and Abby.

Gibbs, at first, wasn't quite sure where to put his hands with Abby standing so close. He didn't know if having his hand on her bare back was appropriate, still not knowing exactly where they stood with each other, but having his hand at her waist was awkward. Abby laughed and murmured "Stop thinking so much. It's just dancing. We'll work the rest out later." He let himself relax and just hold her close, her head on his shoulder. He breathed in her slight scent of gunpowder and vanilla as they moved slowly to the music, only vaguely listening to the DJ.

"I've been afraid of changes,

cause I built my life around you..."

Gibbs tightened his arms around her, reminding himself that sometimes, change was a good thing. "Abs?" She murmured an acknowledgment. "Come back to my place tonight?" She looked up at him sharply and he realized his mistake and rephrased his question. "Just...you're right. We should talk. Just talk. I'll drive you home after, or I've got the guestroom."

She was quiet for a few moments, thinking, and then nodded. "Okay. Just talk. Talking would be good. I need to tell Ziva. She was my ride here."

The song ended and he reluctantly let her slide out of his arms and dash over to Ziva to explain their plans. He retrieved his jacket as Abby collected her cloak and purse and met him at the door, Ziva catching his eye on the way with a pointed look, a silent message passing between them that needed no translation. He helped Abby with her cloak and they stepped out into the cold.

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**Did Abby make a mistake by going with him? What should she say? How will he react? **

**I'd love to know what you think! -KM-**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks so much for your reviews! I know it takes more time to write a review than to click "alert" or "favorite" and it's really nice when people make the effort to let me know they enjoy what I write. ****I really appreciate every one of them!  
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They drove back to his house in silence, the car chilly despite the heater, and the windshield wipers on high to keep the swirling snow away. Abby curled up in the front seat, wrapping her cloak tighter around her, grateful when they pulled into the driveway. She waited for him to come around and open her door, taking his hand as he helped her out of the car. While her shoes were ideal for dancing, they weren't well suited to an icy, snow covered driveway.

She hung up her cloak as he flipped the lights on. He disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes, returning with two mugs of coffee, pressing one into her hands. "Sorry, no Caf-Pow machine in my kitchen."

She wrapped her hands around the mug. "It's okay. It's warm." As she turned to walk to the couch, the lights flickered once and went out. "Um...Gibbs? It's dark."

"Power line must've gone down." He fumbled around in the dark and found the flashlight kept underneath the table.

"Okay, that's a little better." Abby set her coffee down on the table and made her way to sit down. "Maybe we should've gone to my place. It might be um...brighter."

Gibbs chuckled. "Abs, the power's less reliable there, and your pipes are probably frozen."

"Oh. Right." She glanced at the flashlight in his hand. "So we're talking by flashlight?"

"Nah. Don't want to waste the batteries."

"Gibbs! We're not going to sit here in the dark! There's an awful storm outside and not even a moon and that's just scary and-"

He held up his hand. "Never said we were, Abs. Relax." He knelt in front of the fireplace and arranged a few logs, and had a fire burning brightly in a few moments. "Better?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "And warmer too."

He settled back against the couch cushions. "You still mad?"

She shook her head. "I stopped being mad sometime on Sunday."

He looked up in surprise. "But Monday...?"

"I wasn't mad. I was hurt. I was hurt that you said that awful stuff and just made decisions that affected both of us, and your timing really, really sucked. That was awful."

He took a breath, absorbing what she was saying. "At Heather's, you said you were okay?"

"And I was! And I would have been! You don't get it, Gibbs!" She smacked her hand down on the armrest in frustration. "I was fine when we left. I was fine when we got to my place." She stood and started pacing in front of the fireplace. "I had that warm, fuzzy, relaxed endorphins feeling, I was enjoying it, and I'd have just gone upstairs, gone to bed and had a wonderful night's sleep." He stood and moved next to her, and she turned to look at him, her index finger poking him in the chest. "But that's not what happened, Gibbs!" She was blinking back tears. "I mean, if I'd been playing with someone I'd just met, okay, fine, but I wasn't. I was playing with you! It was this amazing, intense...thing!"

He moved closer to her, touching her arm. "I know."

"And you totally yanked me out of that nice place and it really, really sucked!" Seeing the tears fall, he reached out to pull her to him, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest. "And all that was really horrible, Gibbs. But the worst thing was that after I'd trusted you, let myself be vulnerable in front of you, you couldn't bring yourself to trust me enough to talk to me!" She looked away, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

He cupped her cheek with his hand, trying to turn her head to look at him. "Abs. Abby, look at me." She shook her head. "Please." Giving in, her eyes met his, and he brushed away her tears with his thumb. "I handled that badly. Should've talked to you. Won't happen again."

"Promise?"

He took a breath. "I'm not good at this, at talking. Don't want to make a promise I can't keep." She looked down and started to turn away from him when he caught her by the shoulder. "But I'll promise to try."

She nodded. "I can live with that."

Gibbs wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly he found himself with his arms full of Abby. He wasn't sure how long he held her against his chest, his hands softly caressing her back, but he knew he didn't want to let her go. Finally, he felt her pull back. "Gibbs? Can we sit down? My feet are killing me!"

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**To answer a question, the title and song lyrics in the prior chapter are from "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks, which was covered by the Dixie Chicks a few years ago. This should've been acknowledged in that chapter, and I apologize for the oversight. **

**While I don't write "songfic" as most people think of it, most of my stories are inspired in some way by music I listen to, and I try to acknowledge that in a small way in the story itself, the title, or the author's notes. "Leather and Lace" is also a Stevie Nicks song. "Hold On", my House fic, was inspired by the music of Tom Waits, and if you've ever heard "Big Bad Handsome Man" by Imelda May, you'll know why I think Gibbs every time I hear it (and I'm sure there's a fic in that sometime soon. If you haven't heard it, I'm sure its on You-Tube somewhere)!  
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	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Gibbs guided Abby over to the couch where she propped her feet up on the ottoman. "That's better." She sighed.

Looking down at her, he went with his famous gut and sank to his knees in front of her, gently touching the ribbons tying her shoes. "May I?"

She nodded, sighing as he slipped the shoes from her feet and gently ran his thumbs up her arches, finding the sore spots and easing away the pain. Glancing down at Gibbs kneeling in front of her, she smirked. "I could get used to this."

Focusing his attention on the foot he judged most tense, listening to her gasp as he found a particularly tense spot. "You could. Wouldn't mind if you did."

She chuckled and raised an eyebrow at him. "I wasn't just talking about the foot massage."

He looked away, focusing his attention on his task, unsure just how to respond to that. Finally deciding the truth was best, he muttered. "Neither was I."

_**The end**...or is it?_

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**While Landslide may have come to an end, look for part 3 in the series, "It's Only Love", coming very soon! And please, do let me know what you think of this story and what you'd like to see next! I do have the next story already outlined, so it shouldn't be long. Thank you very much for reading, and I love all the reviews and messages! -KM-**


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